Attachment for automatic circular-knitting machines.



Patented Aug, l2, I902.

J. r. BARB. ATTACHMENT FOR AUTOMATIUCIRCULAR KNITTING MACHINES.

. (Application filed Feb. 13, i901.

(No Model.)

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No. 706,509. 1 Patented Aug. l2, I902.

T J. F. BARI]. I ATTAGIINIENT FUR AUTOMATIC CIRCULAR KNITTING MACHINES.

[Application filed Feb. 15, 190m I (No Model.) 5 sheetkshs t 2L m m m n THE humus PEIEIS 00.. momumo WASNINGTON. n. cy

.No. 706,509. Patented Aug. I2, I902.

J. F. BARB.

ATTACHMENT FOR AUTOMATIC CIRCULAR KNITTING MACHINES;

(Application filed Feb: 18, 1901.) (No Model.) r 5 Sheet s.Sheet 3.

N0 706,509. Pate 'nt ed Aug. I2, 1902.

J. F. BARB ATTACHMENT FUBAUTOIIATIE GIBBULAR KNITTING IIAGHI NES.

A i ucmon filed 1*. 113.1901.) (No Model.) 58haetr-Sheet 4.

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v No. 706,509. T Pat entad Aug. 12, I902.

.1. F. BARD.

ATTACHMENT FOR AU TOMATIC CIRCULAR KNITTING MACHINES.

(Applicgtion filed m). 15. 1901. (No Model.) T 5 Sheets-Sheet 5.

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Usnrnn PATnNT )n1ncn.

JAMES FRAZIER BARD, OF WAYNEQPENNSYLVANIA.

ATTACHMENT FOR AUTQMATIC CIRCULAR-KNITTING MACHINES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters P atent No. 706,509, dated. August 12, 1902.. Application filed February 18,1901- Serial 1T0. 47,714. (No model.)

To aZZ whom, it may concern:

Be it known that 1, JAMES FRAZIER BARB,

a citizen of the United States,.residing1 at,

' PatentNo. 536,616, granted to Emil J. Franck the circuIar knitting machine of theFranck+ type to the purpose of knitting. the front of. the fabric with open or lacework meshes by arranging the regular needles so that they may be independently movable in their car-- rier and. providing means-for lockingor releasing these needles. When the needles are released, their beards are not sufficiently depressed on the down movement of the carrier. to come into contact with thebe'ard-closing ring, and hence said beards remain open and do not cast ofi the loops or crossingthreads, which accumulate until the needles are locked to -the carrier and are carried downt'nereby to operative engagementwith the beard-010s ing ring. By mypresent improvement, how

ever, both fashioning andregular needles are carried in the usual manner by their respective carriers and remainlocked thereto. The control of the beards of certain needles-in my present invention is secured by dispensing with the usual beard-closing ring and substituting two series of jacks, the jacks of one seriesbeingstatio'nary or fixed, while the otherjacks are movable automatically,-so as to either close the. beards on the downward movement of theneedles controlled or else be swung orlifted outof the path of said beards to prevent the closure of the beard and casting off of the thread from the needle. The nature and scope of my invention will be more fully understood from the following description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, forming part hereof, in which- Figure lis a front elevational viewof the upper portion of a circular-knitting machine,

the attachment therefor embodying main features of myinvention being connected therewith. Fig.2 'is a vertical central sectional view thereof. Fig: 3 is a side elevational view of Fig. 1 looking toward the right-hand side of the machine. Fig. 4 is a horizontal sectional view on the line 4 4 of Fig. 3. Fig. 5 is a top or plan view of the sinker-bar bed and needle-cylinder, certain parts of the same being broken away. Fig. 6 is a view similar to Fig. 2, but illustrating the needles in opposite positions. Fig. 7 is a detail view of one section of the cam-ring for operating the movable jacks. Figs. 8, 9, and 10 are enlarged detail views of certain parts of the at= tachment. Fig. 11 is a perspective view illustratingdiagrammatically one form of lace or open work knit by the needlesyandFig. 12 is a view of a portion of the tubular fabric knit upon the machine, the fabric being spreadout upon aflat surface. Referring to the drawings, it will be seen that main portions ofthe machine are arranged and operate in substantially the mannerillustrated and described in the Letters PatentNo. 536,616, 'hereinabove referred to.

Thustheneedle-cylinder: a is provided on .its periphery it with longitudinally-arranged grooves in which the two sets of needles I) and b are adapted to reciprocate. 'Oneset, b, constitutes the fashioning-needles or those which knit the heel and toe and rear portions of the tubular fabric or stocking, and this set occupies the grooves grouped onone-half the periphery of the cylinder 0.. The other set, I), are the regular needles and occupy the grooves of the remaining portion of the cylinder. Both sets are connected to their respective carriers d and d and operate in substantially the manner described in the Franck patent.

The sinker-bars e, the sinker-bar bede, and web-holders e are also of the same type and operate substantially as the corresponding parts described in the said patent.

The present improvement resides in the means for controlling the beards of certain needles in one or both groups b and b, so that those boards may be closed or left open to permit either of the formation of new loops and the casting 01f of the old loopsor else to prevent the casting ofi of the loops and threads previously fed into said beards.

In carrying out my invention the beardclosing ring of the machine described in the Franck patent is removed and in its stead two series of jacks are employed, one series being stationary and performing to the needles adjacent to which they are located the functions of the beard-closing ring, while the other series is movable at will, so that these jacks may either close the beards of the neodles which they controlor prevent said closure. The preferred forms of jacks, as well as the preferred means for controlling the movable jacks, are as follows: Each needle 12 whose beard is to be constantly closed upon the downward movement of the needle, has adjacent to its beard and in the position usually assumed by the beard-closing ring a stationary jack f. This jack f is arranged radially with respect to the needle-cylinder and is located below the sinker-bar bed and has its nose or projecting end f formed to engage and depress the heard of the needle. The preferred form of the jackfis illustrated in detail in Fig. 9. The other needles I), whose beards are to remain open at certain downward movements of the needles, have adjacent to each beard a jackf shaped, preferably, as illustrated in detail in Fig. 10. The vmovable jack f has a nose or projecting end f shaped to engage and depress the beard of a needle I) when the nose f lies in the path of said beard. It has also a free end or tail piece f projecting away from the heard of the needle, and intermediate of its ends f and f it has a rounded fulcral point f by means of which it is supported in a plate f arranged below the sinker-bed. It follows from this description that when the tailpiece f is depressed the jack f will oscillatev and its beard-closing nose f will be elevated, so as to clear the beard of the needle b when said beard descends. The jackf is so weighted that normally its nose f Will fall under the influence of gravity and its tailpiece f will be elevated, or a coiled springf may be employed to bring the jacks f back to their normal position. To secure the depression of the tailpieces of the jacks f and the corresponding elevation of the beard-closing noses f into inoperative position, two semicircular cam-rings g and g are preferably used. Each segment 9 or g is adapted to turn within the depending ring 7t, which projects below the sinker-bed eand incloses all the jacks. For this purpose each cam-segment g or g has a pin or stud m or m at one end. The segments 9 and g do not together form a complete ring, but there is a space m separating the ends,which permits under certain circumstances a turning of one segment g without disturbing or turning the other segment g. Each segment 9 or-g has on its exterior periphery a diagonal slot or slots 9 into each of which fits a pin or stud g traversing the ring h, within which the segments are adapted to turn. It follows, therefore, that if the segments g and g are turned in one direction they will be elevated by reason of the slotted portions of the segments riding up on the pins, whereas if the segments are turned in an opposite direction the segments will be lowered in the ring 72. When so lowered, the base of the segments 9 and g will impinge on and depress the tailpieces f of the oscillating jacks f whereas when the segments are elevated their bases do not engage these tailpieces and the jacks f assume their normal or beardclosing position.

In the fashioning of a tubular fabric, such as a stocking, it may be advisable that the fashioning-needles b have their beards uniformly closed, and hence movement to the segment g,controlling the beard-closingjacks f of that set of needles I), must be prevented without, however, interfering with the movement of the jacks f of the other set I) of needles. To accomplish this, the stud or pin m, by means of which the segment 9 may be turned, is downwardly bent and engages permanently a fork or clutch m This clutch m has a broad tongue m extending normally between the downwardly-projecting stud m and the straight stud m when both segments are to be turned. The clutch m and its tongue m are adapted not only to be rocked by preferred mechaniszmhereinafter to be described, but it is also adapted to be moved up and down in a vertical direction, so that, if necessary, its tongue on may be lowered out of engagement with the stud m, and yet the clutch m still remains in engagement with the stud m. To thus raise and lower the tongue m the tongue is provided with a horizontal arm m arranged to slide up and down on a square rock-shaft m. The arm m has a grooved collar m engaged by a forked clutch m formed at one end of an angle-leverm", pivoted, as at m to a fixed part of the machine. The other end of the angle-lever m is connected to a link or rod m Suitable means controlled by the machine and not illustrated may be employed whereby the link at certain times may be shifted in one direction to actuate the lever we", so that the arm and tongue at are elevated on the rockshaft m or in an opposite direction to lower said tongue. The square rock-shaft m may be oscillated by the preferred mechanism illustrated in the drawings, which consists, essentially, of a pattern wheel or diskn, controlling the horizontal oscillation of a forked arm 11/, connected to and adapted to swingrzs the square shaft m. When the clutch m and its tongue m are elevated by the angle-lever m to the position indicated by full lines in Figs. 1 and 3 and the rock-shaft m is oscillated, both segments g and g are oscillated and rise and fall within the ring h. When, however, the clutch m and tongue m are lowered to the position indicated by dotted lines in Figs. 1 and 3, the tongue clears the pin on,

and hence only the segment Q will be oscil- This isaccomplished by securing to the carrier d a bar or pin n adapted as the carrier (1 descends to impinge upon and depress the free end of a lever 71, the other. end of said lever being secured to a rock-shaft n This rock-shaft 01 carries a rock-arm n, to which the pawl n is secured. The rock-arm n is normallyunder the tension of a spring M, which tends to retract the arm n and pawl n and to elevate the lever 17/ when the carrier 01 rises. 1 p

In the formation of a fabric such, for instance, as is illustrated inFigs. 11 and 12 the needles of the set I) are arranged in the needle-cylinder, as illustrated in Fig. 4, to the right of the cylindernamely, there is first a regular needle Z7 adjacent to which is a stationary beard-closing jack f, then there are two grooves or spaces in which no needles are placed, then there is one needle I), adja-,

cent to which is a movable jack f then two more vacant grooves or channels, then two regular needles b controlled by the jacks f, then two vacant spaces, and so on around the semiperiphery of the cylinder. The pattern disk or wheel n has upon alternate faces either buttons n or vacant spaces n", which control the in-and-out shifting of the clutcl1.

arm n, and therefore the up or down movement of a segment g, or both segments gand g, so that the movable jacks. f may be elevated or depressed, according to the pattern desired. The needles b in their up-anddown movement knit regular loops or meshes tion of the thread,and hence the needle 19 will carry a loop 19' and one crossing thread 19 before the loop p and thread 19 are cast off and a new loop 19 is formed. 0n the other side of the cylinder at, in which the set I) of fashioning-needles are grouped, there are by preference no needles removed, and hence fixed jacks f.

Having thus described the nature and object of my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure byLetters Patent, is-

1. In a circular-knitting machine of the character described, in combination with bearded needles and mechanism for operating the same, two sets of beard-closing jacks, I of which one set is fixed and controls certain of the needles to form regularmeshes and the other set is movable and adapted when withdrawnto clear the beards of certain other needles and prevent the formation of regular 0 meshes thereon.

.2. In a circular-knitting machine of the character described, a series of bearded needles and mechanism for operating the same, means for constantly closing the. beards of certain of said needles at every downward movement of the same, a series of movable jacks controlling the beards-oftheremaining needles, and mechanism for elevatingsaid jacks to-prevent the closure of the beards during the downward movement of said remaining needles.

3. In a machine of the character described, a bearded needle, a needle-cylinder wherein the needle is adapted to be reciprocated,a sinker-bar bed adjacent to the needle-cylinder, a sinker-bar arranged to operate in said bed, and a beard-closing jack in fixed lateral relationship to the needle-cylinder and fulcrumed below the sinker-bar bed so as to oscillate toward and away fromthe beard of the needle, substantially as and for the purposes described.

4. In a machine of the character described, a beard-closing jack having at one end a beardclosing nose and at the other end a tailpiece, said jack having a fulcrum intermediate of its ends, and a segmental cam-piece adapted to be oscillated and to be elevated and depressed adjacent to the tailpiece and when depressed adapted to impinge on said tailpiece to depress the same and to elevate and withdraw the nose of the jack from the beard of said needle.

5. In a circular-knitting machine of the character described, bearded needles, mechanism for operating the same and fixed and movable jacks for respectively closing regularly and intermittently the boards of said needles.

6. In a circular-knitting machineof the character described, bearded needles, mechanism for operating the same, two sets of jacks, whereof one set is adapted to continuously in one direction close and the other set intermittently in the same direction close the beards of said needles.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my signaturein the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

JAMES FRAZIER BART).

, W'itnesses:

J. WALTER DoUcLAss, THQMAS M. SMITH. 

